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Four years ago, today...I was 25 years old, living with my parents, haven't had a (paid) job in 2 years, was 40 pounds overweight, just read some crazy books called The Millionaire Fastlane by @MJ DeMarco and The Four Hour Workweek...which opened up the door to the possibility of me being a millionaire in my lifetime.
At the beginning, I didn't believe it...was possible for me.
All my friends and family told me that this stuff I'm talking about was just "rich greedy people trying to take my money" when I talked about these books and this way of life.
Their doubts almost got to me...and I almost gave up and applied for a job at Walmart in Statesville, North Carolina.
But then somehow I became friends with @biophase on Facebook and saw videos of him traveling the world. Living in Scottsdale throughout the year, spending the summers in the Rocky Mountains, and having the freedom and ability to travel the world and have amazing experiences that most people couldn't dream of.
It was inside those videos, that re-ignited the fire to keep going.
It was almost as if, 4 years ago, I saw a future version of myself...a possibility of a life I could one day live. Biking through the Rockies!
I grew up in a normal, lower-middle class family on Long Island, and then moved in with my parents after college because I didn't have what it took to even get a full-time job at the time. I quit a part-time law enforcement job to pursue a full time one in another state.
I blamed my lack of opportunities on the poor economy at the time, but looking back...the only reason I couldn't do those things was because of the person who stared at me in the mirror every morning.
Whenever I looked at that person in the mirror, I sometimes wished I was somebody else, living somebody else's life who could drive those nice cars, and take those vacations whenever he wanted.
I didn't even know what entrepreneurship was until I read MJ's book over 4 years ago.
All I had was $250 to my name and a 2006 Nissan Sentra that I paid off with the leftover money from my student loans.
Now, 4 years ago today, with $30,000 in student loan debt, and $250 to my name, I made the decision to pack my fire engine red nissan sentra with my clothes and my laptop and drove to the only place I knew successful people lived: Scottsdale, Arizona.
I applied for a job as a customer service agent, and called a girl I went to college with on the way who had family there who said I could stay there for 3 weeks.
I had 3 weeks to get a job and an apartment, or else I would be stuck in the middle of the desert with nothing left.
On the drive there, I finally got to see the country: Drove through Atlanta, The Deep South, Texas (Texas is a BIG effing state - from Houston to El Paso).
The moment I arrived in Arizona, it was as if I began the vacation of a lifetime. Warm March weather, clear blue skies, and palm trees....vacation has started.
With $500 in credit card bills now, I took my $250 to the casino and turned it into $1,900 so I could pay off the credit card and afford first month's rent. Then I got lunch with biophase and started talking about how much money I made at the casino (lmao - rookie mistake to brag to an experienced fastlaner about the $1,000 I won in poker).
...Which ironically, is probably the amount he won back from me a couple years later at MJ's poker games 😀
So I got the job in customer service, a buddy from new york drove out, and we got an apartment together for 18 months. I spent most of that time F-ing around and reading books like cashvertising, dreaming of going wingsuit base jumping in Europe, and being able to escape to Colorado for the summer like in the videos I saw.
I meet a few other fastlaners at the Fastlane conference in 2013 - move in to an apartment with them in October as I get a corporate promotion at my job. The vacation I chose to take from "the real world" continued.
Jason wrote plenty of stories about Project Scottsdale on the forum, so I'll skip that part.
But in that house, we chose to all focus on ONE business for 6 months, and we pushed eachtoher to keep pushing forward through the hundreds of failures we had on a weekly basis.
In that house, in 6 months, it led to companies that did over $300,000 in revenue and impacting the lives of over 1 million people.
Needless to say, that is when I was FINALLY able to "quit my job".
I made it.
I was getting 80,000 app downloads the month after I quit my job.
Oh, and that dream of leaving arizona for the summer to go to the rocky mountains? It came true....
But all those magical things didn't appear when I reached my goals. It was almost as if I reached my destination...and nothing was there (a lesson I didn't learn until later).
I spent 6 months learning NLP, partying with college students at the age of 27, and living off of passive income, and getting really big into personal development...trying to chase that happiness that didn't come when I began making the money.
I also used to think girls would flock to me when I made the money. The girl I wanted to date hooked up with the guy who delivered for jimmy johns...on his bike, because he didn't have enough money for a car, instead.
I reached my destination, but it was empty....
...and then my business crashed on Christmas day, and I lost it all.
I was visiting my family in north carolina for the holidays, and I was back at square one.
But something was different...
I took a journey...
I gained experiences....
I was different.
Within a month, I was back up and running, better than before, and moved back to Arizona for 6 months.
Eventually had my first $1,000+ day - took a few road trips across the country...and eventually drove up the pacific coast highway from San Diego to Seattle.
I made it.
And what happens every time you think you "made it" and are at the top of the mountain?
The only way to go is crashing down.
Something happened up there and I filled myself with stress. I found myself driving to the emergency room at 2 am...only to find out they didn't take my insurance.
I consulted a doctor online and she suggested I move because it might be due to the environment change or something there.
So I pack my car, once again and keep driving.
The next day, I realize my apps crashed (again), leaving me in a worse position than I was the first 2 times. Oh, and a major magazine just released a story on me that flooded my website and inbox with 300 hate mails and some death threats from angry sidewalkers....
A few days after leaving Seattle, I'm leaving Glacier National Park....I'm 90 miles in the middle of the wilderness and the stress built up, causing heart palpitations. 911 doesn't work without cell phone reception, leaving me on the side of the road, thinking I'm dying.
I look up and there are a bunch of wild horses running, and they looked so....free.
Here I am, with nothing left....about to die...and I felt more free than I ever have in my life.
And old version of me did die on the side of that road in the wilderness of Northern Montana. I looked back on the past couple years of my life and realized that the journey was the destination.
I began living my dreams of being free to travel on that first day I packed my car and left my parent's house in 2012....The best memories were with the people I shared experiences with. Project Scottsdale 1.0 and with the guys from Project Scottsdale 2.0.
All the other like minded people I met on my journey.
It was with the thought of dying on the side of a wilderness highway, with no business, no health, and nothing left....it was THAT moment where I made the shift that made all the difference.
It was in that moment, where I decided to stop chasing things and decided to choose to be grateful with where I am in the present moment.
Our journey is the destination. It is nothing more than a series of instances strung together. It is in this instance right now, and this day right here where your true goal rests.
The growth you are experiencing today. The fun you're having with others today. And the things you're putting out into the world to help other people. These are the things that make this journey worthwhile.
Do you know that us business owners aren't the only one on this same journey?
I was listening to J. Cole - Love Yourz recently, because he related to the experience I had recently.
"It's beauty in the struggle , ugliness in the success"
He took that same journey I took, but instead of NC to Arizona for business, he went to Hollywood for living his dreams.
We made it, and realized that all those things you see on TV - those fancy cars, mansions, 7 figure bank accounts...aren't the things that allow us to be happy. There will always be "more" to chase after.
But when you choose to be happy with where you are now, while working on doing what you love...life can't get better than this.
So after Glacier National Park, and driving all across the country for a bit, I was back to visit my parents on Christmas last year, in a worse position than I was the first 2 times.
But something was different.
I was different.
The greatest lesson I learned is that it's not what you get, but who you become. A journey like this, when you keep hustling and pushing forward every day....is the journey that turns you into the person you always wanted to be.
And when you become that type of person who is capable of anything...and stop chasing happiness...and stop chasing things, today is the day you will realize that "there's no such thing as a life that's better than yours.
There's beauty in the struggle...
So what happened after I faced all my worst fears and they manifested in my life? Business gone, health gone.....?
I realized they weren't real, but I do have one fear left...
The fear of what my life would have been like if I didn't choose to take that first step 4 years ago, today...
At the beginning, I didn't believe it...was possible for me.
All my friends and family told me that this stuff I'm talking about was just "rich greedy people trying to take my money" when I talked about these books and this way of life.
Their doubts almost got to me...and I almost gave up and applied for a job at Walmart in Statesville, North Carolina.
But then somehow I became friends with @biophase on Facebook and saw videos of him traveling the world. Living in Scottsdale throughout the year, spending the summers in the Rocky Mountains, and having the freedom and ability to travel the world and have amazing experiences that most people couldn't dream of.
It was inside those videos, that re-ignited the fire to keep going.
It was almost as if, 4 years ago, I saw a future version of myself...a possibility of a life I could one day live. Biking through the Rockies!
I grew up in a normal, lower-middle class family on Long Island, and then moved in with my parents after college because I didn't have what it took to even get a full-time job at the time. I quit a part-time law enforcement job to pursue a full time one in another state.
I blamed my lack of opportunities on the poor economy at the time, but looking back...the only reason I couldn't do those things was because of the person who stared at me in the mirror every morning.
Whenever I looked at that person in the mirror, I sometimes wished I was somebody else, living somebody else's life who could drive those nice cars, and take those vacations whenever he wanted.
I didn't even know what entrepreneurship was until I read MJ's book over 4 years ago.
All I had was $250 to my name and a 2006 Nissan Sentra that I paid off with the leftover money from my student loans.
Now, 4 years ago today, with $30,000 in student loan debt, and $250 to my name, I made the decision to pack my fire engine red nissan sentra with my clothes and my laptop and drove to the only place I knew successful people lived: Scottsdale, Arizona.
I applied for a job as a customer service agent, and called a girl I went to college with on the way who had family there who said I could stay there for 3 weeks.
I had 3 weeks to get a job and an apartment, or else I would be stuck in the middle of the desert with nothing left.
On the drive there, I finally got to see the country: Drove through Atlanta, The Deep South, Texas (Texas is a BIG effing state - from Houston to El Paso).
The moment I arrived in Arizona, it was as if I began the vacation of a lifetime. Warm March weather, clear blue skies, and palm trees....vacation has started.
With $500 in credit card bills now, I took my $250 to the casino and turned it into $1,900 so I could pay off the credit card and afford first month's rent. Then I got lunch with biophase and started talking about how much money I made at the casino (lmao - rookie mistake to brag to an experienced fastlaner about the $1,000 I won in poker).
...Which ironically, is probably the amount he won back from me a couple years later at MJ's poker games 😀
So I got the job in customer service, a buddy from new york drove out, and we got an apartment together for 18 months. I spent most of that time F-ing around and reading books like cashvertising, dreaming of going wingsuit base jumping in Europe, and being able to escape to Colorado for the summer like in the videos I saw.
- 18 months....of messing around.
- 18 months...of dreaming.
- 18 months...of staying the same.
- 18 months...that I could have spent building my future, instead of reading and dreaming.
I meet a few other fastlaners at the Fastlane conference in 2013 - move in to an apartment with them in October as I get a corporate promotion at my job. The vacation I chose to take from "the real world" continued.
Jason wrote plenty of stories about Project Scottsdale on the forum, so I'll skip that part.
But in that house, we chose to all focus on ONE business for 6 months, and we pushed eachtoher to keep pushing forward through the hundreds of failures we had on a weekly basis.
In that house, in 6 months, it led to companies that did over $300,000 in revenue and impacting the lives of over 1 million people.
Needless to say, that is when I was FINALLY able to "quit my job".
I made it.
I was getting 80,000 app downloads the month after I quit my job.
Oh, and that dream of leaving arizona for the summer to go to the rocky mountains? It came true....
But all those magical things didn't appear when I reached my goals. It was almost as if I reached my destination...and nothing was there (a lesson I didn't learn until later).
I spent 6 months learning NLP, partying with college students at the age of 27, and living off of passive income, and getting really big into personal development...trying to chase that happiness that didn't come when I began making the money.
I also used to think girls would flock to me when I made the money. The girl I wanted to date hooked up with the guy who delivered for jimmy johns...on his bike, because he didn't have enough money for a car, instead.
I reached my destination, but it was empty....
...and then my business crashed on Christmas day, and I lost it all.
I was visiting my family in north carolina for the holidays, and I was back at square one.
But something was different...
I took a journey...
I gained experiences....
I was different.
Within a month, I was back up and running, better than before, and moved back to Arizona for 6 months.
Eventually had my first $1,000+ day - took a few road trips across the country...and eventually drove up the pacific coast highway from San Diego to Seattle.
I made it.
And what happens every time you think you "made it" and are at the top of the mountain?
The only way to go is crashing down.
Something happened up there and I filled myself with stress. I found myself driving to the emergency room at 2 am...only to find out they didn't take my insurance.
I consulted a doctor online and she suggested I move because it might be due to the environment change or something there.
So I pack my car, once again and keep driving.
The next day, I realize my apps crashed (again), leaving me in a worse position than I was the first 2 times. Oh, and a major magazine just released a story on me that flooded my website and inbox with 300 hate mails and some death threats from angry sidewalkers....
A few days after leaving Seattle, I'm leaving Glacier National Park....I'm 90 miles in the middle of the wilderness and the stress built up, causing heart palpitations. 911 doesn't work without cell phone reception, leaving me on the side of the road, thinking I'm dying.
I look up and there are a bunch of wild horses running, and they looked so....free.
Here I am, with nothing left....about to die...and I felt more free than I ever have in my life.
And old version of me did die on the side of that road in the wilderness of Northern Montana. I looked back on the past couple years of my life and realized that the journey was the destination.
I began living my dreams of being free to travel on that first day I packed my car and left my parent's house in 2012....The best memories were with the people I shared experiences with. Project Scottsdale 1.0 and with the guys from Project Scottsdale 2.0.
All the other like minded people I met on my journey.
It was with the thought of dying on the side of a wilderness highway, with no business, no health, and nothing left....it was THAT moment where I made the shift that made all the difference.
It was in that moment, where I decided to stop chasing things and decided to choose to be grateful with where I am in the present moment.
Our journey is the destination. It is nothing more than a series of instances strung together. It is in this instance right now, and this day right here where your true goal rests.
The growth you are experiencing today. The fun you're having with others today. And the things you're putting out into the world to help other people. These are the things that make this journey worthwhile.
Do you know that us business owners aren't the only one on this same journey?
I was listening to J. Cole - Love Yourz recently, because he related to the experience I had recently.
"It's beauty in the struggle , ugliness in the success"
He took that same journey I took, but instead of NC to Arizona for business, he went to Hollywood for living his dreams.
We made it, and realized that all those things you see on TV - those fancy cars, mansions, 7 figure bank accounts...aren't the things that allow us to be happy. There will always be "more" to chase after.
But when you choose to be happy with where you are now, while working on doing what you love...life can't get better than this.
So after Glacier National Park, and driving all across the country for a bit, I was back to visit my parents on Christmas last year, in a worse position than I was the first 2 times.
But something was different.
I was different.
The greatest lesson I learned is that it's not what you get, but who you become. A journey like this, when you keep hustling and pushing forward every day....is the journey that turns you into the person you always wanted to be.
And when you become that type of person who is capable of anything...and stop chasing happiness...and stop chasing things, today is the day you will realize that "there's no such thing as a life that's better than yours.
There's beauty in the struggle...
So what happened after I faced all my worst fears and they manifested in my life? Business gone, health gone.....?
I realized they weren't real, but I do have one fear left...
The fear of what my life would have been like if I didn't choose to take that first step 4 years ago, today...
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